ISSN 2398-4082 (online)
The Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health is an open-access, peer-reviewed online journal exploring the links between urban design and mental health. This journal aims to share compelling ideas and evidence-based practical recommendations across the disciplines to inspire research where there are gaps, to bring new perspectives, and to help drive the implementation of good ideas on the ground. Academics of all disciplines, as well as architects, psychologists, neuroscientists, landscape architects, urban planners, geographers, engineers, developers, and people working in any other relevant disciplines, are invited to contribute.
VOLUME 11
CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS!
Submit by 15 November 2026 (SUBMIT HERE)
Hope + Meaning | Exploring spatial dimensions of human flourishing
For too long, the fields of urban design and mental health have been defined by what is broken: urban stress, overcrowding, isolation, gentrification, urban sprawl, and the loneliness of digital life, among others. We have become skilled at diagnosing the pathologies of our cities - measuring deficits, cataloguing traumas, and mapping disparities. This was a vital phase in identifying the deep cracks in the foundations of our urban health systems. But a mere diagnosis is only the beginning of the healing process.
Volume 11 of the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health proposes to explore the emerging current of design practice and community initiatives that bring a tangible sense of hope and meaning back to people and the planet. Hope, in this context, is understood as a proactive force, a cognitive and emotional scaffolding that enables individuals and communities to envision a better future and take steps toward it, even in the face of uncertainty. We are particularly interested in the urban design of positive transformation: how spaces, policies, and patterns can foster a sense of possibility, agency, and collective engagement.
This call invites perspectives from the full spectrum of human knowledge - from neurourbanism to poetry, from positive psychology to GIS mapping, and from historical precedents to speculative futures. In this volume we seek submissions that explore rigorous yet imaginative juxtapositions of the arts and sciences with the potential to yield measurable solutions and meaningful insights rooted in positive psychology and in indigenous wisdom, feminist urbanism, environmental justice, and health economy.
Submit original research articles, theoretical essays, and review papers that explore a wide range of perspectives on the notion of hope and meaning in the urban environment. We welcome submissions that thoughtfully analyse the interplay between empirical evidence, theoretical frameworks, and design implementation in creating and promoting mental well-being in urban settings. Contributions may explore historical theories that have shaped urban design practice, critique current evidence standards, or propose novel theoretical approaches to decision-making in the field.
For this volume, we also welcome submissions of art that illustrate the Volume 11 theme. The selected artwork will be featured on the cover.
The objective of this call is to bring together scholarly works and practitioners’ perspectives that challenge conventional paradigms and ultimately advance both theoretical discourse and evidence-based practice for healthier urban environments.
For too long, the fields of urban design and mental health have been defined by what is broken: urban stress, overcrowding, isolation, gentrification, urban sprawl, and the loneliness of digital life, among others. We have become skilled at diagnosing the pathologies of our cities - measuring deficits, cataloguing traumas, and mapping disparities. This was a vital phase in identifying the deep cracks in the foundations of our urban health systems. But a mere diagnosis is only the beginning of the healing process.
Volume 11 of the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health proposes to explore the emerging current of design practice and community initiatives that bring a tangible sense of hope and meaning back to people and the planet. Hope, in this context, is understood as a proactive force, a cognitive and emotional scaffolding that enables individuals and communities to envision a better future and take steps toward it, even in the face of uncertainty. We are particularly interested in the urban design of positive transformation: how spaces, policies, and patterns can foster a sense of possibility, agency, and collective engagement.
This call invites perspectives from the full spectrum of human knowledge - from neurourbanism to poetry, from positive psychology to GIS mapping, and from historical precedents to speculative futures. In this volume we seek submissions that explore rigorous yet imaginative juxtapositions of the arts and sciences with the potential to yield measurable solutions and meaningful insights rooted in positive psychology and in indigenous wisdom, feminist urbanism, environmental justice, and health economy.
Submit original research articles, theoretical essays, and review papers that explore a wide range of perspectives on the notion of hope and meaning in the urban environment. We welcome submissions that thoughtfully analyse the interplay between empirical evidence, theoretical frameworks, and design implementation in creating and promoting mental well-being in urban settings. Contributions may explore historical theories that have shaped urban design practice, critique current evidence standards, or propose novel theoretical approaches to decision-making in the field.
For this volume, we also welcome submissions of art that illustrate the Volume 11 theme. The selected artwork will be featured on the cover.
The objective of this call is to bring together scholarly works and practitioners’ perspectives that challenge conventional paradigms and ultimately advance both theoretical discourse and evidence-based practice for healthier urban environments.
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Contributions may include any of the following:
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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS (Including Generative AI use):
What does the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health publish?
The Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health is a peer-reviewed academic periodical dedicated to disseminating high-quality scholarly work that bridges the disciplines of urban design and mental health. Our publication portfolio includes original research articles, essays, thought pieces, and commentaries, contributing new findings to the field.
We are particularly interested in research with clear practical applications, interesting design solutions and ideas, which have been already implemented (case studies). Submissions to the journal are expected to meet the rigorous academic standards that characterize influential, field-shaping research.
The Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health is a peer-reviewed academic periodical dedicated to disseminating high-quality scholarly work that bridges the disciplines of urban design and mental health. Our publication portfolio includes original research articles, essays, thought pieces, and commentaries, contributing new findings to the field.
We are particularly interested in research with clear practical applications, interesting design solutions and ideas, which have been already implemented (case studies). Submissions to the journal are expected to meet the rigorous academic standards that characterize influential, field-shaping research.
Checklist and formatting for submission: https://journals.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/urbandesignmentalhealth/about/submissions
For all types of submission:
For all types of submission:
- We value clear, succinct, and grammatically correct writing that is accessible to people who work in a wide range of disciplines.
- Please consult our Policy for Use of Generative AI.
- Please submit an MS Word file.
- Please use the submission template for all resubmissions. First submissions may be submitted in any format.
- The front page should include:
- proposed title
- max. 200-word abstract (not required for Dialogue submissions)
- full names and affiliations of all authors
- corresponding email address
- Social media details for authors to facilitate discussion of your paper on social media, if available
- proposed title
- All submissions should focus on the links between urban design and mental health.
- Please review the scope of the journal and the theme above for details.
- All submissions should be fully referenced as appropriate with bracketed numbers throughout the text with references in APA format.
- Please include at least one relevant photograph, illustration, or other graphic (with description and any attributions).
- Authors are expected to cite any datasets in the body of the article, with a corresponding reference in the reference list.
- If ethics approval is relevant, details should be included. Please check our Policies on Human and Animal Rights.
- Please report funding details. In the case of no funding, please include the appropriate statement.
- Please check our Conflict of Interest Policies and include a completed conflicts of interest disclosure form.
- Please avoid specialist jargon to ensure that the papers are accessible to all.
- Please check our Peer-review Process.
- Currently, this journal is published in English only, though we want to publish papers from a wide range of countries; abstracts in other languages are welcome.
- Please consult our Data Sharing Policy.
- The Journal and individual articles can be accessed online, free of charge, through websites: https://www.urbandesignmentalhealth.com/journal.html, https://journals.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/urbandesignmentalhealth/index or zenodo:https://zenodo.org/communities/udmh
- For further information about authorship criteria, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines.
AUTHOR FEES
There are no charges for publishing.
COPYRIGHT + LICENSING
Authors retain copyright and publishing rights without restrictions and grant the journal right of first publication under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License.
SUBMISSION
- Please submit as an MS Word document on our submission site: https://journals.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/urbandesignmentalhealth/about/submissions
- A submission template is available here: TEMPLATE
- If you would like to discuss your planned piece before writing/submitting it, please email the Editor-in-Chief: Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo or Co-Editors: Erin Sharp-Newton, or Nelida Quintero.
GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR PAPER
Once published, we will promote your paper on our platforms.
We also ask you to help further the reach of the Journal and your published piece, so everyone can get the most from the content.
Below are some of our suggestions for promotion:
We also ask you to help further the reach of the Journal and your published piece, so everyone can get the most from the content.
Below are some of our suggestions for promotion:
- Sharing it on your social media platforms;
- Sharing it with your institution and/or professional colleagues, and having them promote it;
- Sharing it with planners, policymakers and other decision-makers relevant to the location/topic of your paper;
- Sharing a summary of your findings with media relevant to the location/topic of your paper;
- Talking about it at conferences, on blogs, podcasts, and other such opportunities;
- Writing op-eds based on your paper, and linking to it.